Storyline

Without giving too much away DMC4 is based around a young knight called Nero and his mission to kill the legendary son of Sparda and series protagonist, Dante. This is a story of love, faith and the epic struggle of good vs. evil. So expect heaps of attitude, epic fights and the occasional twist which fans of the series will know is what defines Devil May Cry.

On that note its fans of the series that’ll be most affected by the fact that newcomer Nero takes the lead in this chapter, with series veteran Dante in more of a supporting role. Some will like it, some wont but rest assured that Dante is playable and does have a part in the story much similar to the way that Solid Snake was still playable in Metal Gear Solid 2 despite Raiden being the leading man.

Gameplay

Anyone who knows their history of DMC or indeed Capcom will know that the origins of the series lie within the Resident Evil and Onimusha franchises. What ended up being the first game was initially designed to be Resident Evil 4. However the game ended up departing so heavily from the original concept that it was made its own project and after witnessing a development glitch within Onimusha: Warlords, Hideki Kamiya found the inspiration for what ended up being Devil May Cry’s signature stylish combat system. Many games copied but very few have mastered and we all know the format by now: timed button bashing and extreme combos all of which ranked based on performance both during and at the end of each level. There we have it, the series has stayed true to it’s predecessors as DMC4 also follows the same system. Why not though? After all: if it ain’t broken, don’t fix it! This time round players have two characters to play each with different fighting styles, Devil Arms (weapons) and Devil Triggers (demonic transformations) – most notable among DMC4’s various features though is Nero and his demononic arm the ‘Devil Bringer’ which lets the player toss enemies around effortlessly. Oh and let’s not forget the big epic bosses, on the easier difficulties these can be taken down with little strategy but on the harder there’s a specific knack for each one. Of course, Devil May Cry 4 isn’t all about the combat there are a few simple puzzles in the mix too!

All of these gameplay elements are blended together and divided into missions, beginning and ending with a cutscene which propels the story forward as well as ranking the player according to deaths, items used, speed and style. Meaning the better you play, the better you rank and those truly talented will of course find themselves on Leaderboard to compare mission rankings of both friends and the world alike. Other features include a Theatre (for cutscene), a gallery (for game art and character models), a game library and eventually “the Bloody Palace”; your typically difficult Capcom style survivor mode.

Gripes players may have with the gameplay will usually revolve around three key factors; the camera system which can at times be uncooperative, the backtracking which can be boring and unimaginative and finally the key component of the game – the combat which some people will find repetitive. For the most part the gameplay is solid and a lot of gamers wont find the above an issue.

Graphics

Graphically the game is solid, it’s designed to push the 360 hard and most of the time it does. Cutscenes are beautiful; the graphics are of very high quality. Gameplay almost always keeps above 60FPS and the backdrops are designed with common sense as well as imagination (if something is supposed to be bright it is, if something is supposed to be gloomy and dull it is).

There are however a couple of graphical glitches in the game but for the most part they’re so insignificant that they wouldn’t be noticed.

Sound

The voice acting is well delivered apart from a couple of one-liners which are presented much weaker than the rest. Acoustically the real strength of Devil May Cry as a series is the blend of electric, rock, classical and choir music (yes, choir – though very little), DMC4 continues the trend and delivers in a brilliant way which in my opinion aids the gothic theme present throughout.

Overall Score & Replayability

So… what’s my conclusion then? Devil May Cry 4 will definitely appeal to series fans in terms of gameplay, though some might question story elements in light of the focus on Nero. For those who haven’t played previous DMC titles you’d have to ask yourself what you look for in a game before buying this one. Do you like fighting hordes of bad guys, timing your attacks and cocky, sarcastic, yet lovable characters? If so, this will appeal to you. It’s a well designed game targeted for a certain audience and I can say for certain that I consider myself among that audience.